Façade
by Soundtrack of my Life
Summary: Welcome to the prestigious Alice University, educating only the elite. 4 strangers come together, learn to live, laugh, love, and overcome the masks, the façades they have created to block out everyone, even their own selves. NxM HxR


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_From yesterday, it's coming  
From yesterday, the fear  
From yesterday, it calls him  
But he doesn't wanna read the message here_

From Yesterday(30 Seconds to Mars)

//

"It's here!" Mikan screeched excitedly, tightly clutching a yellow manila envelope as she burst through the front door.

She threw her heavy bag on the floor carelessly, jumping up and down, twirling around like a maniac.

"What's all the ruckus about Mikan?!" A sharp voice scolded.

Mikan slightly turned her head to face her scowling grandfather. "Ji-chan!" She shrieked, jumping into his arms, nearly knocking the poor man down.

"Guess what Ji-chan!!?"

"Eh?" The elderly man's features wrinkled, confused. This was probably the most excited Mikan had been all week, possibly all month.

"I got mail from Alice University!"

"Well that's great!" He grinned at her. "So did you get in?"

"Well….. I didn't exactly open it yet."

"……."

"But! I was waiting for you! I wanted to learn to be patient." She droned on, pointing her index finger in the air. "Anddd, I wanted to share this really special moment with you Ji-chan!"

"……."

"Ji-chan?"

She stared curiously at his indifferent face, "are you mad at me?"

A small chuckle escaped from his lips. "You will always be…. Mikan."

"Well? Come on, are you going to open it or not? Im not gettin' any older here!"

"Right!"

She stared at the envelope anxiously.

"Okay, Mikan, you can do this!" She chided herself.

He studied her face carefully as she skimmed through the letter. Usually, he could read her like an open book, but her features gave nothing away.

Her face broke out into an enormous grin. "I GOT IN!" She screamed. "I got in." She repeated again, sounding a little dazed.

She quickly removed the remaining contents of the thick folder, carefully reading each sheet of paper.

"Your mother would be so proud." Her grandfather stated. "So when..?"

"August 28th."

--R—R—R—R—R—R—R—

"August 28th? That's when you're leaving for Alice University? Isn't that a little early?" Ruka's mother questioned.

Ruka shrugged.

A few minutes ago, Ruka retrieved the thick envelope from the mailbox, knowing even before he opened---correction, before his _mother_ opened it, that he was accepted.

"I'm so proud of you Ruka! You're going to be attending the most prestigious school in Japan!" She wrapped her arms around her son, pulling him into a tight embrace.

"Mhmm," he replied, as if his mind was elsewhere.

They were interrupted when the doorbell suddenly rang. "I'll get it mom. It's probably for me." Ruka said, as he rushed to the front door, grateful for the sudden disturbance.

He opened the door to a beautiful slender female with straight long honey locks which cascaded down her back.

"Hey, Aki. What're you doing here?" He questioned, surprised.

"Why? Not happy to see me?" She pouted prettily, her cobalt eyes gleaming with playfulness.

Ruka chuckled. "Of course I am, you totally saved me from one of my mom's lectures!"

They both snickered and he leaned down to kiss her lips in greeting.

"Ohayo, Mrs. Nogi!" Aki exclaimed. "I'll be stealing Ruka from you tonight, there's a party at Toshi's house!"

"Okay, kids have fun!" She waved them off with a smile on her face.

"Okay, so my car or yours?"

"Yours." Aki grinned devilishly.

"As you wish, princess."

They both jumped into a cool black Mercedes convertible. She laughed, "I'll never get tired of this car! It's the perfect car!"

**_xxxxxxxxxxx_**

A half hour later, Ruka was sharing a beer with Toshi while Aki was off chatting with one of her many friends.

"And so she was like you never really listen to what I want, it's always all about you. You're all you care about! It's over Toshi!" He hiccupped, taking another swig of the beer.

Ruka zoned out a little; listening to Toshi and all his girl problems was really annoying him, but he didn't have the heart to say so.

"Of course, you don't ever have to worry about anything like that, Ruka." His words were starting to slur together. "You have the perfect girlfriend, the cheerleading captain! You guys are like the couple of the _century_, dude! You have the sweet ride, the sweet parents, the sweet house. You got it all easy!"

"Right.." he smiled politely at Toshi. "Yea, dude. Well I think you're getting a little mixed up here. I don't have the perfect life!"

"Really?" Toshi raised an eyebrow. "Well tell me then, tell me one fault with your life."

Ruka wasn't able to give an answer.

What Toshi said was completely true. He had the perfect life, the perfect parents, the perfect house, the perfect looks, the perfect car, the perfect girlfriend… the list went on and on. Which made it seem even more surreal to him. It was like all part of a dream. Like he would wake up any minute now and find everything altered drastically. Or maybe like a movie; one of those romantic comedies where everything is perfect but so fake.

--H—H—H—H—H—H—H—

Hotaru logged onto her laptop and checked her emails, as she did every day. _100 new messages_. Normally, someone else would be overwhelmed by this amount of emails in a day. Not Hotaru, however. _I've gotten more_, she thought.

_Alice University_? She clicked on the urgent message, scanning the email.

_I'm wanted at Alice University_? She rolled her eyes. Just another stupid college enrollment request. She had already gotten one from Harvard, which she planned to accept. But then her sharp amethyst eyes caught the large amount of money she would be paid PER MONTH! 500,000 yen! Her eyes widened, as dollar signs registered in her mind. She began to fill out the E-forms; for her medical care, insurance, records.

Another urgent message unexpectedly popped up. Hotaru sighed as she skimmed the email.

_Just another customer._

She went back to registering her forms.

Imai Hotaru was a special girl indeed. At fifteen, in the course of just two years, Hotaru had designed her very own technology software. She sold it Microsoft, making a profit of about 700,000 yen.

Hotaru cursed herself for not making a higher demand. Microsoft definitely made a whole lot more money off of it than the measly amount she had received. She was only fifteen, what could she say?

The raven-haired teen's stomach growled suddenly. Instinctively, her hand flew to it. _I must be hungry_.

Hotaru trudged out from her orderly room. The stench of the house hit her hard. It had not been cleaned for years, she understood. Ever since… _that incident_ occurred. But really, her father ought to have a limit to when he could stand this dreadful sight. Clothes and food were strewn over the place, the furniture collecting cobwebs and dust. Hotaru decided not to bother with the rest of the house; her room was all she really needed, her sanctuary.

"Hey Minako?" Hotaru popped her head in the doorway of her father's room. She refused to call him _father_ or _dad._ _Not until he acts like one_.

"Yes Hotaru?" His deep, agitated voice rang from the bathroom. Nowadays, he sounded like that everyday.

"Any dinner?"

"I bought takeout. I just left it on the table."

_Of course you did._ Hotaru rolled her eyes, heading to the kitchen without even a _thank you_.

She heated up the fried rice and curry chicken, listening to the constant ticking of the clock as her mind wandered elsewhere.

_BeepBeepBeep!_ She opened the microwave, taking out the dish.

She ate in complete silence, as she had been accustomed to everyday. Even at lunch in school, she took her lunch to the library, preferring its silence to the uncontrollable noise in the cafeteria. People always talked about her strangeness. _She's so weird, _people would say. _It's like she's allergic to other people or something. _Maybe that was true. She could never stand loud things, or people. It pissed her off to no end. People said she was a witch, a terrorist in disguise. No one wanted to be her friend. It was fine; Hotaru could live with that. She preferred the soothing, reliable hum of a laptop than the useless chatter of a person anyways.

She took a big bite of rice, slowly chewing and swallowing.

"Wait, Minako!"

"I forgot to tell you, I'm going off to Alice University in a few months!"

--N—N—N—N—N—N—N--

She tasted like spicy cinnamon apple. Natsume pushed her forcefully onto his bed, his tongue exploring her mouth like a snake in a cave.

Her hands were tangled in his onyx locks; as he wrapped his arms around her waist, reaching down to squeeze her butt. "Oh, Natsume," she groaned softly.

"Mmph." He mumbled, obviously turned on. Her hands reached forward to unbutton the buttons on his shirt as his lips trailed down the side of her neck.

KNOCKKNOCK!

Two sharp raps on the door brought them both to reality immediately.

"Ahem!" Natsume looked up to see his butler humbly bowing. "Sorry, master Hyuuga. You left your door open."

"What is it? What does my father want?" He knew whenever the butler ever approached him, it had everything to do with his father.

"Well, he is requesting to have dinner with you."

The crimson-eyed lad nodded curtly, dismissing the butler.

He turned to the girl. "You need to leave, Gina." He ordered rather coldly.

"Uhhmm, okay." The girl was confused. "Well, do you think I could stay for dinner with you. You know, get to know you more. And maybe talk with your father? After all, he-"

"Get out. Now." He pointed at the open door, his eyes flashing dangerously.

_These girls are all the same. _He knew. They all used him just to get to his father. His father, Hyuuga Katsuo, owned the Firestar Inc., the most famous and thriving record company in the world. He recruited tons of successful artists and bands, taking them all to the top of the charts. Katsuo used to be a singer too. Probably one of the best in history. He was known for his fiery eyes, which Natsume had inherited, his fiery personality, his fiery songs. Then he got old and started the company.

The girl huffed, trying to preserve the remains of her dignity. "Fine!"

Her short, blonde hair bounced as she stormed from the room.

**_xxxxxxxxxxx_**

"Father, good evening." Natsume took a seat at the dinner table, formally greeting his father. "I see you have returned from your business trip."

The man nodded to acknowledge his son's presence. "I see you have been doing quite well, Natsume."

"So what are you doing back here?" Natsume asked dryly.

"Always quick to the point, eh? Just like your old man here." Katsuo Hyuuga grinned.

"………."

"Well, Natsume. Hmm… let's see. So this is your last year in high school, is it not?"

"Hmph."

"Have you thought about your future in college and careers?"

"No."

"Do you even want to-"

"No."

"Natsume." His razor-sharp voice caused Natsume to glance up warily at his father. "You have received offers from many universities, all of which would pay to have you there."

"You know they're just using me, father."

"I think not, Natsume. You get fantastic grades and you're the captain of the soccer team. The world's not out to get you."

"……."

"Anyways, I have accepted the offer for you to attend classes at Alice University in Tokyo. I think they offer the most for you there."

"You mean they offer the most for _you_ there." Natsume replied sardonically.

"Natsume…" Katsuo warned, his eyes narrowing impatiently.

"You just want me there for your company's image, don't you?" He continued.

"Natsume, you can't just keep your mouth shut and accept, can you, damn it?" The man's voice lowered dangerously, his eyes flashing like a fire.

"Remember. What happens when you play with fire?

You get _burned_." He spit.

Natsume glared at the floor, his hands curling into fists.

"I'm assuming we have an agreement?" The father's voice morphed back into a light tone once again.

Natsume rolled his eyes fiercely, before meeting the heated gaze of his father.

He nodded, slightly.

Katsuo grinned.

* * *

_--Skye_

_Please review, comment, criticize…._

Peace!


End file.
